Footrest for a three-seat ski-lift chair

ABSTRACT

A footrest for a three-seat ski-lift chair, of the type which swings up out of the way for loading and unloading occupants, has side arms pivotally secured to the seat back. The front ends of the side arms are bent inward and joined in front of the occupants and two legs pendant therefrom on either side of the center occupant have transversely projecting footrest members at their lower extremities. A comparatively long rest member projects outwardly from each leg for the feet of the outside occupants and a comparatively short rest member projects inwardly from each leg for the feet of the center occupant, the ends of the short members being spaced apart so that the center occupant can pass his feet between them when the footrest is lowered or raised.

United States Patent 2,662,587 12/1953 Mcllvajne Inventor Lee A. Reinhardt Sackets Harbor. NY.

Appl. No. 884,412

Filed Dec. 12, 1969 Patented Jan. 1, 1971 Assignee Hall Ski-Lift Company, Inc.

Watertown, N.Y.

FOOTREST FOR A THREE-SEAT SKI-LIFT CHAIR 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 297/417, 297/84, 297/433 Int. Cl A47c 7/54, A47c 7/50 Field of Search 297/84, 232, 257,417, 429, 433

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Casmir A Nunberg Attorney-Bruns & .lenney ABSTRACT: A footrest for a three-seat ski-lift chair, of the type which swings up out of the way for loading and unloading occupants, has side arms pivotally secured to the seat back. The front ends of the side arms are bent inward and joined in front of the occupants and two legs pendant therefrom on either side of the center occupant have transversely projecting footrest members at their lower extremities. A comparatively long rest member projects outwardly from each leg for the feet of the outside occupants and a comparatively short rest member projects inwardly from each leg for the feet of the center occupant, the ends of the short members being spaced apart so that the center occupant can pass his feet between them when the footrest is lowered or raised.

FOOTREST FOR A THREE-SEAT SKI-LIFT CHAIR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to aerial ski chair lifts, and in particular to a footrest for three-seated chairs which can be swung up out of the way for loading and unloading.

Ski-lift chairs for two have heretofore been provided with footrests pendant from a crossbar in front of the chair occupants, the crossbar at its ends being bent rearwardly and pivotally secured to the sides of the seat back. A leg pendant from the center of the crossbar bears at its lower end a transversely projecting footrest member on each side for the respective occupants. The occupants can pass their ski-clad feet past the outer ends of the rest members when the crossbar is lowered or raised on loading or unloading.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Three-seat chairs for ski-lifts are now becoming popular and a problem arises as to how to provide a footrest which can be raised and lowered for the center occupant as well as for the outside occupants. Footrests projecting transversely from either side of a central leg pendant from the crossbar would require the center occupant to straddle the pendant leg and pass his left ski-clad foot past the end of the left rest and his right ski-clad foot past the end of the right rest when loading and unloading. Not only is this difficult and time consuming to do, but the center occupant must then get his feet in position on loading before the side occupants get their feet in position and must wait, on unloading, until the side occupants remove their feet from the rests.

The footrest of the present invention also has a crossbar in front of the occupants with rearwardly extending side arms pivotally secured to the back' of the seat. Two pendant feet extend down from the crossbar, one on either side of the center seat and a transversely extending footrest member projects from the outer side of each pendant foot at its bottom. A shorter inwardly projecting foot member also is provided at the bottom of each pendant foot, the shorter foot members project toward one another but have a space therebetween for the passage therethrough of the ski -clad feet of the occupant of the center seat. When the crossbar is lowered the center occupant can bring his feet up between the shorter foot members and then can place them spaced apart one on each footrest member. Similarly, preparatory to unloading, the center occupants feet can pass between the short footrest members before the footrest is raised.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a three-seat skilift chair according to the invention as viewed from the left front and showing the footrest in elevated position.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the footrest lowered to operative position, and

FIG. 3 is a similar view of a prior art two-seat ski-lift chair.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 3, a conventional two-seat ski-lift chair has a seat 11 on which two occupants may be seated side by side. The seat 11 and conventional seat back I2 are supported on one or more crossmembers 13 welded to the lower ends of the vertically extending members 14 at either side which are suspended from a cable running over pulleys supported on the usual towers.

A footrest apparatus 15, similar to that disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,662,587 issued Dec. 15, 1953 to Mcllvaine, has side arms 16 pivotally secured at 17 to either side of the seat back 12. Arms 16 extend rearwardly to a counterweight crossbar 18 to the ends of which they are joined.

Forwardly, the arms 16 extend to a point forwardly of the position occupied by seated occupants and then are bent toward one another and are joined together at 19 to form a crossmember 20 extending across the chair in front of the torsos of seated occupants, the legs of the occupants extending underneath'the crossmember 20.

At 19, the joined-together portions of crossmember 20 are bent to extend downward and then forward and downward as a pendant leg member 21 between the two occupants, the seat 11 serving as a stop for the leg member to limit the downward rotation of side arms 16.

At the lower end of the leg member 21 a footrest member 22 on either side of member 21 projects transversely away from the leg member. The rest members are long enough to be engageable with the ski-clad feet of the occupants so as to support the feet of the occupants.

On loading and unloading, when crossmember 20 is lowered or raised, each occupant can simply shift his feet left or right past the outward end of his rest member 22 to permit lowering or raising of leg 21 and rest members 22 along with the crossmember 20.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 a three-seat chair 25 has a seat 26 wide enough for three occupants seated side by side. Seat 26 and its baclc 27 are supported on crossmembers 28 secured to the lower ends of vertically extending members 29 which are joined together at their tops by another crossmember 30. Member 30 is suspended by another member crossmember from the usual cable, occupants'shown.

The footrest apparatus has side arms 33 pivotally secured at 34 to either side of the seat back 27. Rearwardly of the pivot 34, the side arms 33 extend to a counterweight crossmember 35 and, forwardly of the pivot the arms are bent inwardly and joined to form a crossmember 36 adapted to extend across in front of the torsos of all three occupants.

Secured on the crossmember 36 are a pair of leg members 37-37 adapted to project downwardly on each side of the center occupant when the crossmember 36 is lowered. At the lower ends of leg members 37 each has a transverse, comparatively long, rest member 38, projecting toward the side of the chair, on which the occupants of the side seats may rest their ski-clad feet. The lower ends of the leg members 37 also have a comparatively short transverse rest member 39 projecting towards the center of the chair. The ends of rest members 39 are spaced apart so that the occupant of the center can pass his ski-clad feet between the members 39 on loading and unloading and when crossmember 36 is lowered, may rest his feet, one on each member 39.

Each side of the chair 25 is provided with an armrest 40 and the side arms 33 forwardly of pivot 34 is bent first upwardly at 41 and then inwardly at 42 and then forwardly again so that the portion between bends 41 and 42 engages armrest 40 as a stop to limit downward movement of the crossmember 36. The bend at 42 is necessary so that the forward ends of side arms 33 may extend inward of the suspension members 29 i when lowered.

Pads 44 of rubber or fabric are provided on the upper crossmember 30 since movement upward of the legs 37-37 is limited by that crossmember.

I claim:

I. Footrest apparatus, which can be swung upward out of the way for loading and unloading, for a ski-lift chair seating three occupants side by side, comprising: side arms pivotally secured to the chair back on either side, a crossmember connecting the forward ends of the side arms, stop means at each side of the chair engageable by the side arms for normally positioning the cross member in front of the occupantss torsos, and a leg member projecting downward from the crossmember at each side of the center seat, the lower end of each leg member having a comparatively long rest member projecting transversely toward the chair side engageable by the skiclad feet of the side seat occupants, and each leg member having a comparatively short rest member projecting toward the center of the chair engageable by the respective right and left ski-clad foot of the center chair occupant, the ends of the shorter rest members being spaced apart whereby the feet of the center occupant pass therebetween on loading and unloading.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,582 137 Dated June 1 1971 Inventor(s) l ge A Be 1' gharflt I It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. Attesting Officer j Page 1, in the heading, for "Patented Jan. 1, 1971" read Patented June 1, 197l--; Column 2, line 25, for

"crossmember from the usual cable, occupants shown" read from the usual cable, not shown Column 2 line 24, after "member" third occurrence, insert 31 Signed and sealed this 9th day of November 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Acting Commissioner of Patents 

1. Footrest apparatus, which can be swung upward out of the way for loading and unloading, for a ski-lift chair seating three occupants side by side, comprising: side arms pivotally secured to the chair back on either side, a crossmember connecting the forward ends of the side arms, stop means at each side of the chair engageable by the side arms for normally positioning the cross member in front of the occupantss'' torsos, and a leg member projecting downward from the crossmember at each side of the center seat, the lower end of each leg member having a comparatively long rest member projecting transversely toward the chair side engageable by the ski-clad feet of the side seat occupants, and each leg member having a comparatively short rest member projecting toward the center of the chair engageable by the respective right and left ski-clad foot of the center chair occupant, the ends of the shorter rest members being spaced apart whereby the feet of the center occupant pass therebetween on loading and unloading. 